congdon



(Model.) 2 sheets-.sheet 1.

LH. CONGDON.

GAR TRUCK No. 314,224. Patented Mar. 24, 1885.

IMEI

(Model.) I Y 2 sheets-sheet 2. I. I-I.` GONGDON.

GAR TRUCK. No. 314,224. l Patented Mar. Z4. 1885. i

N. PETERS. vhulvmhographer. washmgmn. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC H. CONGDON, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

CAR-TRUCK.

SPECIPXCA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,224, dated March 24, 1885.

Application filed July 21, 1884.

(Model .l

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Isaac H. GoNGDoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gar-Trucks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to car-trucks of that class in which the bolster, or that part of the truck which supports the car directly, is suspended so as to be capable of oscillating or swinging laterally; and among the objects of the invention are the provision of such a construction and combination of elements as will provide the widest possible base, foundation, or support for the car While possessing the advantage of a suspended bolster, While at the same time it possesses advantages of distributing the strain upon the truck at points in line with the journals, to relieve the transoms from bearing any portion of the load directly thereon, and to reduce their labor and functions as much as possible to the retention of the truck-frame in proper shape, to secure vparallelism of the arches, axles, and boxes.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following description, and the novel fea tures thereof will be specifically set forth-in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure lis aplan; Fig. 2, an end elevation. Figf is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line X of Fig. l. Fig. 4 shows a side elevation, an outer, and an inner edge view, respectively, of a form of casting which is employed in the construction of the arches of the truck. Fig. 5 is a central transverse section taken on the line Y of Fig. l. Fig. 6 is asimilar section,

and wear is produced upon the boxes, which thereby become heated, and finally lead to a breakage of some of the parts and to accidents. The essential requisites to overcome these objections are, first, a truck which is absolutely rigid in those parts Whose function it is to preserve the boxes in true alignment on either side of the truck, and to provide means not only for a lateral oscillation for the bolster upon which the body of the car is directly mounted, but at the same time to support said bolster, and therefore the car-body, upon a foundation as broad as possible in view of the necessary limitations in the dimensions of the truck itself. Furthermore, with rigidity of construction it is also desirable to secure compactness, simplicity, and a minimum of cost in the manufacture, While at the same time strength shall be preserved or actually increased in the truck as a Whole. With these general objects in view the functions and adaptabilities of the several parts hereinafter described will be apparent.

The axles A, Wheels A, and vboxes A2 are of the usual construction. The frame-Work proper of the truck comprises the arches B, connected by the transoms C. The arches are as usual constructed to embrace the boxes A", and in this instance said boxes may be separated from each other at each side of the truck to a greater distance than is generally the case, by reason of the distance apart that the transoms C are arranged with reference to each other. In this manner the Wheels A of the truck give a longer track-base for the support of the car and contribute to smoothness in its movement.

Each of the transoms C is formed of channel-iron, the anges of which project inwardly, and the ends of which are secured, preferably by rivets C, to the standards of the arches B, and this may be the fact whatever the construction of said arches may be; but in this instance said arches are of peculiar construction and embody certain novel features of my invention.

For a particular description of the construction of the standards reference is made more particularly to Figs. 3, 4, and 7. Each of the IOO standards Ais formed in a, single casting, D,

having a passage therethrough, D', for the vertical binding-bolts B of the arches B, and also having a lateral projection, D2, adapted to fit within the flanges Orla transom, C, said pro jection also being flanged, or it may be otherwise adapted to receive the bolts, or, preferbly, rivets d, by which the transom is secured to the standard. A v

As thus far described, it will be seen that the truck proper, when the transoms have been riveted to the standards and the latter firmly bound in the arches by the bolts B, is exceedingly rigid against lateral and diagonal strains as well as longitudinal draft, so that simplicity of construction serves to give the desired strength in the truck, while at the same time a firm wheel-base is secured and a desired vertical load-sustaining power is obtained.

New, it remains tolprovide the bolster and means for sustaining it between the transonis, the construction ofthe parts being such as to give laterally the broadest possible foundation for the bolster and the car mounted thereon.

Each of the standards D is provided, in addition to the projection D2, with upper and lower seats, D3, which embrace the upper and lower arch of the truck, and thereby maintain the standards against pivotal movement about the binding-bolts B, and thus aid the transoms in their functions of preserving the arch in parallelism. Each of the standards D is also provided upon its inner side face with a seat, D4, from which a slot, D, is cut, the bottom of the slot being above the bottom of the seat, so that when the standards are in position in the arch a suspension-bar, as E, may be inserted through the slots into the seat D".

The general outline of the seat D'L may be either round or square, the latter form, if either, being preferable, in that a suspensionbar having a square head adapted to fit the seat would perhaps add to the rigidity of t-he arch to a degree and over that of the suspension-bar ythe head of which is cylindrical, and which, therefore, would of itself have pivotal movement within the standards; and although I do not limit my invention to a square-headed suspension-bar, still I illustrate the same herein, a cylindrical bearing, E', being provided in proximity to the square head E2 for the suspension-links F.

At the lower end of the links is a cross-bar, G, having a bearing or trunnion formed at each end thereof, by which it is adapted to be supported in the lower end of the links F.

H represents the sand-board, which is made of channel-iron, the flanges of which are presented upwardly, and at each end two castings are secured, preferably by rivets, an upper casting, I, which is provided with acavity or recess, I', adapted to receive a spring or a portion thereof, as hereinafter described, and a lower casting, J which is provided with a recess or seat, J, for the reception of the lower cross-bars, G, mounted in the links F. By this construction a sand-board of great strength is secured, while at the same time it is simple in its outline and cheaply manufactured, the castings being' adapted tothe board, so that they can be placed at different distances from the end thereof, and thus in a measure determine the amount of oscillation of the sandboard and the parts mounted thereon, as shown in Fig. 6, and hereinafter described, the casting I being changed to adapt it to receive a coiled spring, while in the remaining figures it is adapted to receive the elliptic springs or a plate mounted upon or secured thereto.

The bolster proper consists of metallic plate K,having a flanged casting, K, secured in any suitable manner to each end thereof, the lower surface of said casting being provided with a seat for the reception of a spring similar to that shown at I. At the middle of the plate is secured a casting or pillar, K2. The arch rods or plates K3 extend from the top of the pillar K2 to and against the anges K at each end of plate K. Tie bolts or rivets K4 are provided to bind arch-plates and the bottoni plates together, said bolt-s or rivets passing through sleeve K5, as shown. Upon the pillar K2 and the plates K3 is secured the center casting,K. At the inner ends ofthe casting K', and mounted upon the arch-straps K3, are the fifth-wheel standards K7, and these are provided with flanged bases KS, adapted to fit the plates K3, and are secured in position by bolts K9', passing through the lower plate, K.

Each of the projections DIl of the standards D is provided with a guiding-lug, D, against which the bolster impinges, and when arranged between two of the standards is held by said guides against undue movement forward and backward, while at the same time it is per mitted to have free movement laterally in following the oscillations of the links by which the bolster is indirectly supported.

Now, it will be seen that the suspension bars E are supported in the standards, as described, and the links F support the lower IOO bars, G, which are seated in the casting J of Iro the sand plate or board H, and when the springs L, either elliptic or coiled, or it may be rubber, are arranged thereon, and the bolster is placed upon said springs, that the body of the car is so mounted upon the truck that its'lateral motions are conveyed to the links, and they are caused to swing upon the suspension-bar, and that the limit of the swinging movement is determined in a measure by arranging the links vertically or at a greater or less angle from a vertical line.

It will also be seen that the load upon the truck is sustained ultimately and solely by the standards of the arches outside of the wheels and substantially in line with the journals, and that no portion of said load is thrown upon or supported by the transoms ofthe truck, so that they are left for a perfect performance of the functions of maintaining parallelism in the arches and in thejournal-boxes.

In the construction shown and described, the

truck is composed of as few parts as is con;

' sistent with strength, and all of the parts are of such form as "tobe easily constructed and secured to each other.

If desiredthe springs L may be arranged nearer the center of the bolster.

By means of the' slot D5, leading to the seat D, it will be seen that the bolster, springs, sand bar or plate, "links, and link-bars E and G may all be removed from the truck without 1o the removal of a single bolt, as a key or any other known fastening device may be employed to maintain the'suspension-bar E within the seat D* after it has once been inserted.

Having described my invention and its opi 5 eration, what I claim is- 1. In a car-truck provided with swinging metallic transoms and suspension-links therefor, a swinging bolster supported by and in combination with the standards of the arches 2o of the truck, substantially as specified.

2. In a car-truck provided with swinging metallic transoms of channel-iron and suspension-links therefor, a swinging bolster, as described, supported by the standards of the arches of the truck and in line with the journals of the axles, substantiallyas specified.

3. In a truck provided with swinging metallic transoms and suspension-links therefor, the combination of a swinging bolster support- 3o ed in the standards of the arches of the truck, and said transoms secured at each of their ends to standards D, provided with slots in their inner faces and suspension-bars entering said slots, substantially as and for the purpose de- 3 5 scribed.

4. In a truck provided with swinging 111etallic transoms and suspension-links therefor, the combination of the arches, the standards, constructed as described, links suspended 4o therefrom, a bolster mounted upon said links and between the transoms secured to the standards, and springs arranged within said links subsubstantially in line with the journals, stantially as specified.

Y 5. In a truck provided with swinging metallic transoms and suspension-links therefor, the combination of standards provided with slots, as described, suspension-links retained thereby, a metallic sand plate and bolster, with intermediate springs arranged within the links, and transoms connecting the standards, substantially as specified.

6. The standard D, provided with the snsesion-bar seats D4, substantially as speci- 7. The standard D, provided with the projection D2, adapted to receive a transom, substantially as specified.

8. The standard D, provided with the projection Dz and bearing-face D, substantially as specified.

9. The standard D, provided with the boltpassage D', the projection D2, the seats D3 D4,

and the bearing-face D6, the whole being east in al single piece, substantially as shown and described.

l0. The standard D, provided with the seat ldand with slots D5, substantially as speci- 11. The combination of the arches B, the. standards D, having the projections D2, the transoms C, and lthe bolts B', substantially as shown and described.

12. The combination of the arches B, the standards D, having the projection D2 and seats D4, transoms C, the links F, the bars E G, the sand-plate` H, the springs L, and a bolster mounted on the springs, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in 8o presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC H. CONGDON.

Witnesses:

GEORGE J. HUNT, ISAAC E. CoNGDoN. 

